ELI5 Rubiks Cubes - how do some people solve it in seconds?

How do competitive solvers manage to solve a Rubik's Cube in under 10 seconds, and what techniques do they use? What is the relationship between memorization and pattern recognition for record-breaking cube solvers? How do solvers memorize moves to successfully solve the cube blindfolded, and what techniques assist them in this process? How does the concept of ""God's number"" relate to the Rubik's Cube solving process? How did Erno Rubik initially create the cube, and what structural problem was he trying to solve? ... we explain like I'm five Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: notmiefault, equationtaken, mrrookwood, ilyanep, ap1303, _jwmo_, rocuroniumsuccs, djzzx. To the community that has supported us so far, thanks for all your feedback and comments. Join us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/eli5ThePodcast/ or send us an e-mail: [email protected]